September 23, 2010

The two blonde hostesses are Greek and well practiced in "Irasshaimase!" I am having a seat at the sushi counter. The sushi chef is Japanese by way of California.

I order an espresso martini. The chef recommends the local sea bass and also the local sea urchin—from Crete, from a special supplier which he personally selected, all natural, without any preservatives, and thus better than the one from Japan. I am asking for both the bass and the urchin as sushi, and also order an eel-and-cucumber roll.

The sushi chef tells me that his daughter just graduated from UC Berkeley. She now lives in LA. He came to Greece two years ago. Not a great time for working at a trendy Japanese restaurant right now. But he says most of the customers are locals, and business is better this year than last.

I am reading excerpts from a new book in German, "Deutschboden." The section I am reading is about a "Super Kleinstadt," Oberhavel in Brandenburg, where life still seems local. Where people at the Stammtisch talk about third league soccer and eat Schnitzel and Currywurst.

My main dish tonight is one of those signature "Nobu" dishes: Chilean sea bass with jalapeno sauce. We all know, from the web, that Mr. Matsuhisa grew up in South America where he learned to mix cuisines … I am wondering if this is the endangered species fish for which he got bad press online.

The waitress forgot my water order and when it finally arrives, it is the sushi-chef who comes around the counter to pour me the water. A Japanese way of apologizing, I recognize. He introduces his sous-chef. "Where is he from?", I ask. "From a special place," he answers, "Blue Island, Quingdao." Thus, we converse on Quingdao beer, and Löwenbräu, and Super Dryyyyyyyy.

I am wondering how to finish the meal tonight. Earlier we had talked about how the Japanese drink a lot of coffee. I decide that blueberry and chocolate mochi ice cream may turn out to be a great complement to the espresso martini.

When I exit the restaurant and walk past the bungalows of the resort back to my room, looking up to the trees and the starry night, I feel as if I am in Bali.

March 12, 2010

I attended a conference on experiential marketing in Belgium, in the lovely city of Ghent. After my keynote, there were several great speakers following, talking about Starbucks entering the Belgium market and the launch (sorry, the birth) of a baby elephant in the Antwerp zoo. (I also attended a performance of Don Carlo at the Antwerp Opera, in which the autodafe scene was performed not on stage but in the foyer.)

Watch the interviews I shot with the organizer of the conference, Pascal Libyn, and one with John Deprez who runs a new media agency in Belgium.

February 26, 2010

The other day, after watching Avatar—in 3D of course—I had an unusual
perceptual experience. As I was walking by a tree, I felt as if I was in the
Avatar movie. For the first time in my life, I became acutely aware of how my visual
system and brain might process spatial information. It was a strange
moment of reality repeating virtual reality.

I understand that 3D TV, which seems to be all the hype
among consumer electronics companies these days, might flunk—at least in the
short term because there won’t be enough 3D content, or because consumers won’t
lay out the money for the new TVs (yet). I, for my part, will love the 3D
technology because it helps me to live a richer real life.

January 21, 2010

For decades, curating a show in a museum meant putting the works of art together and displaying them (for example, hanging the paintings on the wall with some consideration on where they should hang and perhaps putting some introductory note at the beginning of the show, written in “high brow” art-history lingo). There are still too many shows like that. But the really good ones today are quite different.

Like the brilliant show on Spanish Painting & Sculpture 1600-1700 in the National Gallery in London, which I attended yesterday. The show is titled “The Sacred Made Real.” For innovation in curation starts with the name: “Spanish Painting …” is the subtitle; the “Sacred Made Real” is the main title, providing a theme for watching the show. The audio guide, rather “audio program,” is superbly done and really enriches the experience. It is easy to use, includes interviews with the curator and others; allows you to play music of the time, and so on. What else is on? Not only the usual lunchtime talks but also “The Making of a Spanish Polychrome Sculpture,” which reveals the technical process in creating such sculptures.

All of this is experiential and customer oriented. That’s why I ask my EMBA students in the Munich program to go to the museums there. As museums have adopted a customer orientation and are wiping off the old dust, managers can learn a few lessons from them about how to innovate in a business in which there had been little change for too long.

April 24, 2009

Carlo Fei, as he dropped me off with his Audi back at my hotel, after a dinner and ride through Milan, made a great off-the-cuff remark, “There’s lots of creativity here, but little innovation.” He’s so right about this distinction between creativity and innovation, and Milan this week is a perfect showcase.

I had been giving a couple of presentations at Bocconi, the business school, to students and executives on experience. I had also stopped by briefly at parts of the Salone Internationale del Mobile, perhaps the most important design and furniture trade show in the world (http://www.cosmit.it). Lots of creativity there, especially outside the big trade location at the cutting-edge Zona Tortona, or in the inner city where fabulous projects happened between retailing and designers. Creativity, yes. Installations, thought pieces, animations of ideas – really weird, sweet, stylish stuff; but little innovation in actual furniture design.

I also stopped by, as I always do when in Milan, in the retail fashion district (Via Monte Napoleone, Via della Spiga, you know). Still all branding, and little customer experience! Moreover, luxury brands have extended their lines into furniture (stores), and flowers (stores), and chocolates (stores), and hotels, and some have done all of it (see Armani). There are brand accessories stores (see Ferrari), flagship stores, pop-up stores. But they are all stores (or, alright, hotels) plastered with the brand name, designed by this-and-that designer—yet, with the usual opening hours and salespeople and merchandise. Frankly, there has been far more innovation in customer service, customer interactivity, and in merchandising by mass-market retailers than luxuryretailers. Think of some of the classics: Apple Store, Whole Foods, American Girls Place. Luxury brands have been, sadly, followers of mass-market brands; shouldn’t they be leading? Not surprisingly, the research that Carlo conducted with his firm on the retail experience shows that many luxury stores in key cities (not just Milan) fall short of providing a great customer experience.

March 11, 2008

For years, political campaigns have taken the best ideas of consumer marketing and put them to work in the battle for voters’ preference. Just as marketing has evolved from the traditional focus on unique selling propositions to brands and customer experiences, political campaigning has kept pace.

The ongoing battle for the Democratic nomination illustrates the three keys to brand success today: a great experience, consistent messaging, and an emotional appeal.

Just like the bottled water and tissue paper categories, there is little differentiation to be found among the candidates’ product features (tax policy, education, the economy, etc). So, experiential qualities will hold sway: leadership, consistency, inspiration. As the race continues across the country, voters are enjoying the ride – not only showing up in throngs to vote, but to take part, live, in the experience. (The voting booth as destination store!)

Barack Obama had to build a new brand from scratch, so he was forced to be extremely disciplined in his message (commentators have even commented on the consistent use of his signature font). Hillary Clinton started with high brand awareness, but in trying to modify her established image, she had to deploy a variety of messages, which her critics took to be brand confusion (e.g. a New York Times op-ed listed “Soft Hillary, Hard Hillary, Misty Hillary… Let’s-Get-Down-in-the-Dirt-and-Fight-Like-Dogs Hillary”).

Clinton’s latest comeback shows that her brand has done best when it’s had an emotional appeal – whether her coffee-shop moment in New Hampshire, or her Ohio advertisement that set her familiar argument of foreign-policy credentials in starkly emotional terms (the sleeping child straight out of a Nyquil commercial). Obama’s brand has generated strong emotional resonance by tapping into voters’ dreams and aspirations.

Where is this battle of the brands headed? Possibly to an eventual co-branded merger, with the dominant brand at the top of the ticket. Which brings up a classic question of brand architecture: would the consumer be swayed by the synergy of two brands? Or opt for the purity of an un-diluted brand: John McCain?

November 29, 2007

The recent design of my flagship web site meetschmitt.com dates back eight years. Now, with the launch of my new book “Big Think Strategy,” it is time for a change. Big Think Strategy is a break in my writing -- moving from work on the customer experience to full-fledged work on business strategy.

The new web site reflects this transition. In addition, you will find a much fresher look. Of course, I will keep some of the classics (yes, the video “Schmitt gets a haircut” will still be there), but there will also be lots of new information. Take a look!

August 29, 2007

While celebrity chefs have discovered the appeal of mass market food (case in point: foie gras hamburgers) some fast food makers have decided to go upscale. And successfully so: In Europe, McDonald’s Golden Arches have received a stylish design make-over. I just visited one in Munich, although purely as a “design excursion.” (I still don’t trust the food.) American readers can see a slideshow of these new stores at NYTimes.com. The refurbished stores have rejuvenated European sales, which surpassed the US for the first six months of the year.

That’s why I am puzzled by some of the comments by the brand experts. “If you stretch the brand too much it can snap,” one is being quoted in the New York Times article. As a general statement that may be right. But stretching McDonald’s too far? Should we really be concerned that a future battle in the stadium arenas of “Iron Chef” will be fought between Daniel Boulud and Ronald McDonald?